Abbey faces discrimination cases

HIGH Street bank Abbey National has fallen foul of disability rights legislation after a landmark ruling this week.

The bank, formally taken over in November by the Spanish Banco Santander, has said it will alter the terms of its insurance policies after a Belfast man took action against it under the Disability Discrimination Act.

The Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, which supported the case, said the company had also paid the man involved £1,000 plus costs as part of an out-of-court settlement.
The case was brought under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 by Thomas Hughes, who suffers from albinism and is registered blind, after he applied for a critical illness insurance policy.

The Equality Commission said the policy offered was limited to exclude all forms of cancer and any disease, disorder or injury to the eyes. However, Abbey could not give any reason, either on an actuarial or medical basis, for the limitations on the policy.

In the settlement it apologised for any inconvenience caused as a result of what it called errors in underwriting the policy. It agreed to remove the blindness exclusion and reinstate cancer cover under the critical illness benefit.

Welcoming the settlement, Dame Joan Harbison, chief commissioner of the Equality Commission, said that it was important that insurance companies made informed decisions when underwriting insurance policies for disabled people.

Dame Joan added: ‘Insurance companies must ensure that they comply with the DDA like all other service providers. Although there are special rules, set out in our Code of Practice, where a person's disability may have a bearing on the risk to be insured, in this case there was no reason why the insurance cover provided for Mr Hughes should be limited as it was.’

Separately, Abbey faces a possible claim under the Act from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) after sending a chip and Pin card to a customer who is visually impaired.
Mary Summers, of Sittingbourne, Kent, said she was unhappy with the new card because she could not see to tap in her Pin number.

‘I have asked for a chip and signature card which uses the same technology but the bank has said they’re not available and that I shouldn’t have any problem. But I need to have a card that makes clear I can only sign, not use a Pin. I’m worried that a retailer may refuse to accept my card if I’m not able to use a number and it doesn’t specify that it’s signature-only.’

Ms Summers added: ‘I could go to my bank branch and take out money, but you feel very exposed when you’re carrying a lot of money in your purse and using a white stick. The chip and signature card should be made available to me. I know friends in the same position with different banks who have got them. I feel badly done by, it’s very unfair.’

An Abbey spokesman dismissed suggestions that the bank could face another prosecution under the DDA. He declared: ‘The Act says we have to make reasonable efforts and that’s what we’re doing. We don’t have a date for the launch of a chip and signature card but we are looking at it. This lady is very unlikely to have a problem, many banks haven’t even sent out all their chip and Pin cards yet.’

The RNIB said it was considering its position: ‘We have told Mary that we will support a claim under the Act. I think one will materialise if she finds her card is refused.’